Plucking African Grey

[Junaid]

Hi

My name is Junaid and I am from sunny South Africa.
My friend had an african grey which he had no time for and kept him in the garage.
As a result the bird became abit aggressive and plucked out all his feathers.
He offered me the bird which I gladly excepted.
Coco ( The name of the CAG ) is about six years old.
He was on a sunflower and seed diet and that is all he ate.
First thing I did was changed his diet which was not the easiest thing in the world to do. He refused to eat anything beside his seed and nuts. So what I did was take out the water and all food bowls before I left to work. Basically I starved him for the day. When I returned put in some beans he demolished them, believe me till today I still feel bad, but today he eats a diet consisting of Corn, beans, pasta, rice, barley, peas which I boil on a weekly basis and freeze and give him in the morning and afternoons. He has pellets to eat during the day. His water is changed daily. Every saturday he gets one hard boiled egg.
Everything was fine, most of his feathers grew back, we were able to pet him on his own terms. He happily chats and calls for us. I used to thread paper all over the cage, and i had a telephone directory hanging in the middle. he would happily play with that swinging on it shredding it.

Untill recently he has lost interest in paper no matter what I try, And that resulted in plucking again. I have tried bird toys, wooden, shiny, bells with no interest from him, I have how ever see he always looks at the plastic energy drink bottles that I have, So I rinsed one and gave it to him, and yay he loves them, tearing up the lid.

Problem is, he still plucks abit.

I have started misting him daily, much to his dislike.

My questions are:
I want to take him to a certified vet, problem is will putting him in a back of a bakkie, and driving for about an hour going and coming be ok for him, could it do more harm than good?

Does plucking eventually stop if its habbitual?

What other methods can I use to distract him?

From research this seems quiet common, is there any stories with positive outcomes?

Are we on the right track with means of his diet?

My wife and I are a young married couple no children as yet, but we adore coco to death. We just want to see him healthy and happy.

Almost forgot he gets his twelve hour sleep daily.


Any advice would be gladly welcomed.

Regards
Sophia/Junaid

[T.W.]

Hi,
I also have a grey who is a plucker, has been for many years. He was not kept proplerly by his past owners, and started plucking. I have tried everything under the sun to change this, but he still plucks. Have you tried adding a little red palm oil to his diet? There are threads on here about that and lots of plucker threads. Do you offer any fruits, in addition to your bean dish? I mist mine with water mixed with some aloe, to try to soothe him, but like your grey, he hates being misted and sometimes I feel that stresses him, so I do not do it as often as I used to. I am not sure what a bakkie is, is it an open backed vehicle? I have had my birds on trips alot longer than 2 hours, and a trip to a avian vet my yield some useful info for you. I wish the best for you and your plucker, but you may have to accept him as he is, sometimes mine is mostly feathered and then he'll pluck it all out including tail feathers, I call him my little plucked chicken. I must say also, I disagree quite strongly with withholding food and water from your bird, that said, what is done is done, and he has moved on to a better diet, just don't want anyone wanting to switch their birds diet to go holding back food and water. it can be a slow process to convert them to a new diet. Hopefully someone has a good plucker story for you, where the plucking stopped.

[my-africangrey-echo]

I will post my experiences with my plucker Vern later today when I get back from an appointment.

[jdlilfan]

I have an older rehome grey who was once a plucker in her previous life. Bless you for taking the bird in!

I want to take him to a certified vet, problem is will putting him in a back of a bakkie, and driving for about an hour going and coming be ok for him, could it do more harm than good?

I'd definitely get the bird to an avian vet as soon as possible to get checked out.

Does plucking eventually stop if its habbitual?
My grey never plucked again when we got her out of her environment. If the plucking is a result of a neglectful environment, which it sounds like it is, it most likely is going to stop once you introduce a good diet and proper stimulation. Gizzy plucked the insides of her thighs and heavily under her wings. She started on the top of her right wing and her belly had some damage. A lot of feathers that weren't plucked were chewed and overpreened. She's got all the feathers back except for the ones under the wing where the follicles are probably damaged. And she's molting out the ones that are overpreened and she's quit doing that as well.

What other methods can I use to distract him?
My grey loves things she can rip and shred. I make little newspaper bouquets and tie them around her cage. She also likes to rip up paper towels. Also she loves to forage. It keeps her occupied for hours. Search online and you can find an array of foraging toys that your bird may be interested in.


From research this seems quiet common, is there any stories with positive outcomes?
Gizzy was left out on the floor with a cat and in a cage that was more suitable for a ferret than a parrot. And her diet was atrocious. Her previous owners also smoked in the home with her. I've been in bars less smokey than that house. She suffers from occasionally respiratory issues from breathing that in. She's just prone to respiratory infections and is a heavy breather. Other than the breathing problems from time to time, she's doing fantastic.


Are we on the right track with means of his diet?

Like TW I disagree on removing food from a bird as it only takes about 48 hours for a bird to starve. Birds drop weight very fast and it's hard to tell unless you have a scale to weigh the bird. It sounds like he's taking to his new diet just fine. I give my Grey hard boiled egg whites all the time. She gobbles them down. I would look into getting a gram scale to keep track of his weight...you don't have to buy an expensive avian scale...you could probably go to the supermarket and find one used for measuring food so that way you can monitor that Coco is at a healthy weight.

Good luck to you and it sounds like your new bird is going to do great! :)

[erin1990]

My boyfriend has an african gray, which I take care of a lot, that does not pluck when stressed or mad, but overpreens. Her entire tail is shredded and parts of her back are getting that way.

While she's calmed down a bit, when people she doesn't like come near her cage, she starts to do it. We've been giving her a more varied toys, her favorites being ones she can tear apart. The foraging toys are pretty good too. Basic pet stores have pretty cheap ones that are basically a small cardboard box with a treat inside... which is something easy to make at home too.

Does he pluck when you and your wife aren't there? If so, he may just need something to keep him busy when you're not there. Bravo on taking in your friend's bird, sounds like you're trying really hard to make him happy and comfortable!

[Junaid]

Hi guys thanks for the replies.
@ T.W Yes a bakkie is an open backed vehicle. Forgive me as I did not think about the slang before I posted.

About the starving I know it was really harsh, but at that point I had him for over three weeks and he would refuse to eat anything beside the sunflower seeds and peanuts.

I have tried to give him fruit on a regular basis as I also have a sun conure, my conure devours anything I put infront of him, but my grey refuses to even go near them.

Please remember he lets me touch his head and rub the back of his neck, but under no circumstances am I allowed to touch him. I have all the scars to prove that lol.

He does not like wooden toys at all. I have spent tons of money on them and they just hang in his cage. I have broken allot of them and scatterred the pieces all over his cage to see if that might work but to no avail.

He has taken quite a liking to plastic bottles, one can keep occupied for hours, he wont leave that bottle untill he bites the lid off lol.
He has also taken quiet a liking to juice cartons. I give them a good rinse and weave abit through the bars and enjoys attacking it.

To be honest this is not about me and my wife, it is about getting him better and about him being happy.

he is a very cheerful bird. His eyes light up when he sees us, He loves doing acrobatic acts.

Generally he seems happy although he does have his moods and boy can he get moody.

I also noticed he is very territorial when it comes to his cage.

Regards

Junaid

[my-africangrey-echo]

I want to take him to a certified vet, problem is will putting him in a back of a bakkie, and driving for about an hour going and coming be ok for him, could it do more harm than good?
A trip to a good avian vet is a very good idea. Please do!!

Does plucking eventually stop if its habbitual?
Not always. It can depend on the bird. Think of it like someone that chews their finger nails. some can get past it some can not. I have been using a product called Pluck No More on Vern and it seems to work but the first time I think I stopped it to soon. I don't know how many of the 20 years she went without toys she was plucking but she still chews her toe nails all the time. Her neck is the only part that doesn't have any downy feathers on it right now.

The Pluck no More is quite expensive and you need to be committed to spending the money on your grey if you are going to start treatment.

What other methods can I use to distract him?

Toys, music, TV People other animals etc!

From research this seems quiet common, is there any stories with positive outcomes?
Yes there are but every out come is as unique as the parrot.

I am just happy with Vern being happy and healthy even if she wants to be a naked bird at times!

Are we on the right track with means of his diet?

I think you were abit harsh on the way you chose to convert him but now that it has been done you seem to have a good diet in play.

The one thing I have different with my Greys is they don't get any pellets any more. not by my choice though. Once they got used to the fresh food diet they will turn their beaks up at pellets. Now walnuts... Thats a different story. If they could have a bowl of walnuts everyday they would be in birdie heaven..

[T.W.]

I also think just because he doesn't seem to like certain toys or foods, keep offering them anyway. My Barney was afraid of any new chew toy I gave him, then out of the blue, he would tear it up. My Barney is a toe nail biter also, but not as much as when I first brought him home, gosh he didn't seem to sit still, like his mind was racing in soo many directions, he is much calmer now. I tried the pluck no more, for quite a while, Barney actually got worse on it, but it does work for many birds. It would seem your Coco is happy, it takes a while for them to get over past abuse and trust, you may never be able to love on him, but you never know the power of love, it can heal alot. There are recipes on this site that might help you get different veggies and fruits into Coco, birdie bread is a good way to sneak pumpkin, sweet potatos, and other mixed veggies in, and you can add a bit of peanut butter also to entice him. My birds love watching cartoons. I think being your bird is from africa, a ride in a bakkie would be fine, and an hour each way is not too long. Just relax and enjoy him, don't let him see you stress over his plucking, Barney's past owners would punish him for plucking, by locking him in his cage, and yelling at him. I don't think plucking means they are unhappy, it becomes a comfort to them, and I never, ever say anything to him about it. I love him bald or feathered.
Also, I have a cherry headed conure that came to me as a plucker, as well as a quaker, who has plucked soo much her feathers do not grow on her chest, so all different species can get issues with this. They are all happy birds, just a bit naked!!!

[Junaid]

LOL thanks for the suggestions and advice,
Very much appreciated.
on a lighter note I was thinking of getting Coco a playstand, where he could have abit more freedom and maybe learn to explore abit more.
my concern how ever is, he does not allow us to hold him, so how would I be able to get him back into the cage at nights for bed time.

[sodakat]

Originally Posted by Junaid

... so how would I be able to get him back into the cage at nights for bed time.

If he's flighted, he'll return to his cage on his own, for comfort. If not, you might want to try getting him to step onto a looped rope perch. One of my two juvenile birds prefers that method of transport even though she sees all the others step up onto our hands/wrists.

Kathy